494112 Thu Feb 28 07:38:14 -0800 2008 10 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 3443234 I've recently decided to expand my horizons when it comes to cheese. I've been looking around the internet for a great cheese website but I haven't come up with anything. I'm looking for a site that describes the different families of cheeses, compares different makers of cheese within a category, and perhaps rates the cheese. Most of the websites I have found just list all the cheeses, which is impossible to navigate since I don't know what I'm looking for in the first place. Basically, I'm looking for the cheese equivalent of beeradvocate.com Thanks Thu Feb 28 07:38:14 -0800 2008 131876 turkob 1 3443258 Not a website, but the book "The Cheese Primer" by Steven Jenkins fits your bill. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0894807625/bookstorenow600-20 Thu Feb 28 07:43:03 -0800 2008 3443234 43893 C. Hamster 2 3443296 The cheese primer is a great starter book. But you should also be aware that it is quite dated now. So some things in the book listed as not available in the US are now available. And a lot of local/artisanal producers and cheeses aren't mentioned since they hadn't existed when the book was written. The last time I bumped into Steve at Fairway, I [being a fan and not shy :) ] recommended that he put out an updated version. :) Thu Feb 28 07:53:01 -0800 2008 3443258 104084 LNG212 2 3443305 Good recommendation! I actually purchased it from Amazon on Monday. It should be arriving soon. Thu Feb 28 07:54:46 -0800 2008 3443258 131876 turkob 1 3443664 http://www.artisanalcheese.com/departments.asp?dept=1022 has some good information. The Cheese Primer is on a shelf in my kitchen, as are two books by Max McCalman ETA: A great way to introduce yourself to new cheeses is to sign up for a cheese of the month club. My girlfriends gave me a 3 month membership for my birthday last year and aside from being the most delicious gift I've ever received it also introduced me to many cheeses I'd never had before. Thu Feb 28 09:17:02 -0800 2008 3443234 14710 heathermb 2 3444270 This is definitely a good reference website. Yeah I hope to start doing some cheese tasting classes and stuff, but it seems most such classes focus more on the wine. I feel like there is probably room for a real cheese community website. Where people provide reviews of different cheese, and a message board describes cheese events and news. Maybe the cheese community isn't this strong, but I don't see why it couldn't be. I really enjoy beeradvocate, and I was hoping to jump on the cheese bandwagon after attending a couple beer and cheese events. Thu Feb 28 11:48:36 -0800 2008 3443664 131876 turkob 1 3443772 Not like beeradvocate, but helpful nonetheless is www.formaggiokitchen.com . Click on the little "learning" link for a quick primer. Some of the better cheese places (including Formaggio in Boston, Cambridge and presumably New York), will have tasting classes every so often. I very strongly recommend them. Thu Feb 28 09:37:06 -0800 2008 3443234 20717 sailormouth 1 3445028 Ah, cheese. Milk's leap to immortality. (Who said that?) But you're right - there aren't many cheese-rating or cheese-comparison web sites. I wish there was a cheeseadvocate.com! For initial guidance on types of cheese to try, see The Fifty Best - Cheese. http://www.thefiftybest.com/cheese/best_cheese_01.htm For some "best of breed" cheeses, take a look at these cheese competitions. The Guild of Fine Food's World Cheese Awards: http://www.finefoodworld.co.uk/default.asp?parentID=15&id=30 World Championship Cheese Contest - Wisconsin Cheesemaker's Association. http://www.wischeesemakersassn.org/index.html - but the results are "hidden" in a PDF file at http://www.wischeesemakersassn.org/wccc/2006/pdfs/06_Contest_Final_Results_NR.pdf For reviews and tasting notes, try these cheese blogs. Cheese By Hand ("Discovering America one cheese at a time"): http://www.cheesebyhand.com/ TheNibble does some nice cheese reviews: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/cheese/cheese2/index.asp The Cheese Mistress' cheese log has tasting notes of a highly personal nature: http://www.cheesemistress.com/ But, most of all, just taste lots of cheese! Go for the expensive stuff (most good cheese is pricy) and sample sample sample. You'll soon learn enough to make those exhaustive lists more useful. My favorite exhaustive lists - just in case you haven't seen them - are Cheese.com (http://www.cheese.com/ ) and Fromages.com (http://www.fromages.com/cheese_library.php ). Anne Thu Feb 28 15:03:11 -0800 2008 3443234 12541 AnneInMpls 2 3447815 Maybe we should start a new thread: how many of the "50 best cheeses" do you have in your cheese drawer right now (answer: three)? I have some issues with that listing being the "50 best," btw. The cheeses seem to have been chosen with some eye to including a large variety of styles and regions rather than an absolute ranking (which would be impossible anyway). The cheeses I've had on that list (a pretty substantial proportion) have all been delicious, though, so I'll give them some credit. And now I'm going to have to go pester my cheesemonger for that Sardinian sheep's milk cheese, which I don't think I've had. Kudos to them for including so many sheep's milk cheeses on the list, too, since I think they're an underappreciated form in the US. Fri Feb 29 13:21:04 -0800 2008 3445028 10159 Ruth Lafler 1 3446815 Here are a couple of pretty basic cheese sites to look at: http://web.info-galaxy.com/CookBook/Recipes/Infomation/Cheese/Cheese_Types/cheese_types.html http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/types_of_cheese.htm http://www.ilovecheese.com/cheese_guide.asp Fri Feb 29 07:40:36 -0800 2008 3443234 80937 danhole 1 3447582 Check out the igourmet web site. They not only sell a huge range of cheeses, but also have quite lengthy descriptions of each. Fri Feb 29 11:25:03 -0800 2008 3443234 55316 mpalmer6c